Corporate Social Responsibility

In an effort to combat harmful advertising in the beauty industry, CVS has made a commitment to keep it real. The retail chain has unveiled its Beauty Mark campaign, promising that it will no longer “digitally alter or change a person’s shape, size, proportion, skin or eye color or enhance or alter lines, wrinkles or other individual characteristics” in the imagery it creates for its stores and marketing.

An area where data has influenced communicators heavily is in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Instead of addressing social issues based on what communicators felt the public was thinking about, savvy PR pros are using data to assess needs prior to mounting a CSR effort. Here’s how one health organization used data and research before beginning its CSR initiative.

Over the weekend, four brands announced they would not advertise on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program, but none felt the backlash quite like Keurig, as videos of people smashing its machines lit up Twitter. The violent response underscores the tricky situation brands are in when caught in the crossfire of a politically charged controversy. Keurig first faced backlash for its inaction. When it took a stand, it faced another angry wave of protests.

I haven’t heard Christmas tunes in the shops of New York yet, but any minute they’ll be cranking them out. Once I hear that first awful new version of Mel Tormé’s “The Christmas Song” everything’s… Continued

Corporate social responsibility has been evolving for quite some time, moving from pure philanthropic efforts to a fully ingrained way of doing business. Today, companies most respected for CSR listen to the

Reports that Facebook’s self-service ad-buying tool may have been used by Russian agents during the 2016 election—as well as allowed anti-Semitic groups to target like-minded individuals—has damaged the brand’s reputation and raised questions about federal regulation of social media ads. The revelations have also raised questions about transparency, integrity and crisis management. When should a company withhold information it knows will damage its brand, and for how long?

The cruise ship industry is often on the wrong end of crisis communications, but Hurricane Irma has given Royal Caribbean the chance to show its humanitarian side, even as it deals with pressing customer service issues on social media. The Miami-based company is mobilizing four of its ships to help people in need with food, water and other supplies, in coordination with the federal government as well as local governments in St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

As of 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 7, Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez had expanded mandatory evacuation orders for all residents of Zones A, B and C in advance of Hurricane Irma’s landfall in the area, which… Continued

If you’re not a rescue or relief organization, you can’t ask employees to be heroes. But if you create a brand culture that emphasizes community and empathy, and that you care about more than the bottom line when the going gets tough, you might empower individual employees to help in ways that will truly make you proud.

The chief spokesperson for Cox Enterprises discusses how to make certain your CSR effort will resonate with the most importance stakeholders of all: the volunteers involved in the CSR and your audience. Remember, CSR is largely about causes or the good people doing volunteer work, not your brand.